A Complete Lawn Care Schedule for Missouri Homeowners
There’s a lot that goes into lawn maintenance and achieving a lush, green lawn in St. Louis. It requires knowing how to care for your grass type and what it needs throughout each season of the year. We’ve compiled a full 2024 Lawn Care Schedule designed for Missouri lawns.
How to Care for Cool-Season Grasses in St. Louis
Various grass types can thrive in the St. Louis climate. Fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, Bermuda, and zoysia are among the top performers in this area, offering resilience against both the hot summers and cold winters. However, cool-season grass types, like tall fescue, are the most popular choice for a St. Louis lawn. Regardless of your grass type, year-round care is crucial to maintaining a beautiful, healthy lawn.
Spring Lawn Care
Early spring is the time to prepare your lawn for the upcoming summer season. Lawns need weed prevention, and nutrients at the right time. It’s also time to start mowing, watering, and building strong root systems for a successful year.
Fertilization
Spring and fall are the best times to fertilize a fescue lawn. In late spring, around April, a balanced fertilizer should be applied to encourage strong grass roots, healthy growth, and green, spring lawn.
Weed Control
Weed control in early spring is a crucial part of weed prevention. Pre-emergent herbicides should be applied to prevent common summer weeds like crabgrass. Any active broadleaf weeds that couldn’t be prevented in the fall, like dandelion, can be treated with post-emergent weed control. Make sure to avoid pre-emergent if you’re planning a spring overseeding on a fescue lawn.
Mowing
Spring is also time for the first mow of the season. Make sure to bag your grass clippings to avoid adding dead grass and debris to the thatch layer. Sharpen the blades on your lawn mower to ensure a healthy cut. During spring, the recommended mowing height for tall fescue is 2.5 to 3.5 inches.
Additional Spring Lawn Care Tips:
Weeds are the only thing that can be prevented proactively in spring. In late spring, a preventative insecticide can be applied for grub control. Lawn grubs emerge in early fall and feed on the root systems. An insecticide applied at the right time can prevent them from hatching.
Aeration is another common lawn maintenance task to tackle during spring. Spring aeration is recommended for warm-season grasses like Bermuda or Zoysia, once they come out of dormancy. It will help promote healthy root systems, break down thatch, and alleviate compaction. Fescue lawn can be aerated and overseeded in spring if it was skipped in the fall, but fall is the most ideal time for fescue overseeding.
Summer Lawn Care
During summer, mowing and watering becomes a large focus when caring for a fescue lawn. A healthy summer lawn also needs weed control, pest control when pests are present, and monitoring for common fungal issues.
Weed Control
Grassy and broadleaf weeds will kick into high gear during the summer months. Apply a post-emergent weed killer for crabgrass, goosegrass, or nutsedge as it appears. Keeping the lawn mowed regularly can help in keeping weeds under control.
Mowing & Watering
Summer watering is one of the most important parts of lawn care. Hot days can cause stress on a lawn and early morning watering is recommended. Schedule your sprinkler systems to run earlier in the day to limit water waste and evaporation. Watering late in the evening can encourage fungus if the lawn is left moist overnight. Deep, infrequent watering is recommended versus short, daily spurts that encourage shallow root growth.
Mowing height during summer should be raised if your grass is looking thin. Fescue can be mowed at 3-4 inches.
Pest Control
Look out for sod webworms and grub damage during summer. Grubs can appear as early as July and continue into early fall. An insecticide should be applied if there are active turf-damaging insects in your grass.
Mosquito Control
Keeping your lawn well-maintained is a natural way to deter pesky mosquitoes. They’re attracted to areas of standing water and dense foliage. Keep pots and other containers around your home clear of water to limit mosquito breeding sites. The best way to reduce mosquito activity around your home is to pair good lawn maintenance with a professional mosquito spraying service.
Fall Lawn Care
Fall in St. Louis is a prime time to care for cool-season grasses. It’s the ideal time for overseeding, fall fertilization, as well as preparing Bermuda lawns for winter dormancy.
Aeration & Overseeding
In early fall, tall fescue lawns need aeration and overseeding. Aeration is completed first to open up new space in the soil for root systems to expand, and grass seed to fill in. Overseeding in the fall helps repair a stressed fescue lawn, fill in bare spots, and improve the overall health and appearance of a tall fescue lawn. After overseeding, put your sprinklers to work. Watering is a crucial step to see the best results.
Fall Fertilization & Weed Control
Homeowners planning for fall overseeding should avoid pre-emergents in the fall but warm-season grasses are safe. Fall pre-emergents prevent winter annual weeds and spring weeds like dandelion. Weed control can also be used to address lingering perennial broadleaf weeds.
September is the ideal time for fall fertilization on fescue lawns, especially after fall seeding. Warm-season lawns will also benefit from a fall fertilizer to improve winter hardiness.
Lawn Insect Control
Lawn grubs are a common problem in the fall season. They feed on the grass roots causing brown patches and weak turf in your lawn. Signs of grubs include a spongey feel and loosely rooted turf. If the affected area pulls up easily like a piece of carpet, grubs are to blame. They can be treated with a curative insecticide.
Winter Lawn Care
Warm-season grasses go to sleep during winter months. Cool-season lawns will stay green and need to be monitored going into winter. Make sure to always rake leaves from your lawn as they can smother the grass, block water, and important nutrients from reaching the soil, and encourage fungus.
Winter is also a good time of year to consider soil testing to address any nutrient deficiencies to prepare for next year. Soil samples can be sent to your local extension office and results normally take 4-6 weeks.
Year-Round Lawn Care Services in St. Louis
Homeowners who need help maintaining a happy, healthy lawn in Missouri can trust Loyalty Lawn Care. Since 1998, we have provided lawn care services, mosquito control, tree and shrub care, aeration and overseeding, and outdoor pest control in St. Louis. Our service area includes St. Charles, St. Peters, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Lake St. Louis, Dardenne Prairie, O’Fallon, Wentzville, Wildwood, and surrounding areas. Contact us today for a free quote.